Apparatus for handling strip



Oct. 31, 1950 L. A. VIGNERE 2,527,

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING STRIP Filed Sept. 7, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheei 2INVENTOR. L EONA RD A. VIG'NERE Patented Oct. 31, 1950 2,527,976APPARATUS FOR HANDLING STRIP Leonard A. Vignere, Salem, Ohio, assignorto The Aetna-Standard Engineering Company, Youngstown, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application September 7, 1944, Serial No. 553,053"

' This invention relates to apparatus for handling sheet or strip-steeland thelike. Strip steel isordinarily furnished to the users in the formof large coils and before being subjected to stamp ing or other formingoperations, the strip material, as it is withdrawn from the coil,ordinarily is subjected to a so-called processing operation where it iscold worked severely. The strip is then passed through a roller levelerto work the metal further and to insure that it will be delivered inperfectly flat form to the subsequent operations.

Heretofore considerable difficulty has been ex-. perienced in startingthe end of a coil of strip steel through the processing rolls and intothe roller leveler, or where the processing rolls are omitted instarting the strip into the roller leveler. The present inventionrelates to an apparatus whereby no manual operations are necessary'tostart the end of the coil into and through the processing rolls and intothe roller leveler. A general object of the invention is to provide asimple and efiicient apparatus of this sort where'- in the end of a coilmay be started with a, minimum of effort on the part of the operator andwith a minimum loss of time. Another object is to provide such anapparatus in which the material being withdrawn from the coil issubjected to severe cold working by the processing rolls shortly afterit is withdrawn from the coil and in such manner as to prevent damage tothe metal by the uncoiling operation. Further objects and advantages ofthe invention will become apparent from the following description of apreferred form thereof, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawings, the essential characteristics are summarized in the claims.

Briefly I accomplish the above and other objects of the invention byproviding an apparatus embodying a cradle for receiving a coil of stripmaterial to be unwound, the cradle being provided with driven rolls sothat the end or fishtail of the coil can be fed into guides by operationof the driven rolls supporting the coil in the cradle. The end of thestrip is fed through a cluster of three rolls, clamped in the rollcluster by movement of one of the cluster rolls toward the other tworolls, and is then directed through pinch rolls to the roller leveler byrocking the cluster bodily to put a reverse bend into the end of thestrip and direct the end into the guide of the roller leveler.Thereafter the strip may be. un-

coiled rapidly from the coil by driving the rollsof the cradle, thepinch rolls and the roller leveler insubstantial synchronism.

7 Claims. (01. 153 54) i Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a preferred form of apparatus embodying my invention andshowing the apparatus with the rolls in the position they occupy afterthe strip has been fed'into the leveler and while the uncoiling,processing and leveling operation is being carried out; Figure 2 is aplan view of the apparatus shown in Figuregl with the coil of metalomitted for convenience in illustration; Figure 3 is a vertical sectiontaken along the line 33 of Figure 2; and Figures 4 and 5 are fragmentarysections through the cluster, pinch and guide rolls showing the rolls inthe initial position when strip is being fed therebetween, and in theintermediate position, respectively.

As noted above the coil C of strip S to be processed is supported on anduncoiled from a cradle, the coil being indicated by broken lines inFigures 1 and 3. The cradle preferably comprises a suitable frame memberor base member I0, and two oppositely disposed upright frame members IIand [2 in which a plurality of supporting rolls I3 and guide rolls l4are suitably journaled. Four, of the rolls I3 are preferably arrangedwith their centers lying on a circular are as shown while the last tworolls l3a and I3!) are disposed along a tangent to the arc. Thus rollsl3a and 13b guide and support the strip as it leaves the coil on its wayto the processing rolls. All of the rolls 13 are preferably arranged tobe driven in either direction by conventional drive mechanism not shownin the drawings. The smaller guide rolls I l prevent displacement of thecoil from the cradle and need not be driven. By controlling the drivingmechanism for the rolls l3, a coil disposed on the cradle can be rotatedin either direction. In order to stabilize the coil on the cradle, toinsure uniform withdrawal of strip from the coil and to prevent the 0011from jumping on the cradle or becoming dislodged therefrom, I preferablyem.- ploy the stabilizer bar or roll it which is adapted to pass throughthe central opening of the coil C. The roll is shown in the drawing atthe bottom of the slot which is the position it occupies when there isno coil in the machine. In use, roll 15 is disposed in the center of thecoil, is guided by vertical slots l1 and 18 in the end or upright framemerbers II and I2, respectively, and slides downwardly in the guides asthe coil becomes smaller.

From the cradle the strip S passes between guides 20 and 2| and betweenthe first cluster roll 22 and the intermediate cluster roll 23. Then thestrip bends around about of the cluster roll 23 and passes between thethird cluster roll 24 and the pinch roll 25, being bent in a reversedirection around nearly 90 of the roll 24. Finally, the strip passesbeneath the guide roll 26 to the roller leveler which may be of anyconventional construction, the entering end of the leveler beinindicated generally at 21.

The several cluster, pinch and guide rolls are supported on a frame workmade up of a base portion 30 and vertical frame members 31 and 32.

The pinch roll 25 and the guide roll 26 are journaled directly in theframe members 3! and 32, the pinch roll 25 being provided with drivepulleys 33 so that the roll may be driven by belts 34 which in turn aredriven from any suitable source of power (not shown) such as the drivemechanism for the roller leveler 21. The roll 25 is also provided with agear 35 adjacent one end thereof which is adapted to mesh with the gear36 carried by the cluster roll 24. Thus when the cluster rolls are inthe position shown in Figures 1 and 3, the

roll 24 is driven with the roll 25 and the two rolls together constitutea pair of pinch rolls.

The cluster rolls 22, 23 and 24- are not supported directly in theupright frame members 31 and 32, but are carried by a sub-frame made upof end members 40 and 4i and a transverse member 42. The end members 40and 41 are provided with projecting supporting shafts 43 and 44,respectively, these being journaled in bosses 45 and 46 of the uprightframe members 31 and 32. Thus the supporting frame is mounted so that itcan be rocked bodily with respect to the main frame, and to accomplishthis purpose segmental gears 41 and 48 are keyed to th projecting endsof shafts 43 and 44. The gears are en-' gaged by racks 49 and 50supported by suitable guide rollers 5| and reciprocated by powercylinders 52 and 53. It will be evident that upon admission of actuatingfluid to the ends of the cylinders 52 and 53 .awayfrom the rack, theframe will be rocked to the position shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3,whereas when fluid is admitted to the opposite end of the cylinders 52and 53, the subframe will be rocked so that it occupies the positionshown in Figures 4 and 5.

The first and third cluster rolls 22 and 24 are journaled directly inthe end members 40 and 4! of the sub-frame. However, the intermediatecluster roll 23 is carried by bearing blocks slideably mounted in slots55 and 56 in the end members 40 and 4|. The end members also carry powercylinders 51 and 58, to the piston rods of which the bearing blocks forthe roll 23 are secured. With this arrangement when fluid under pressureis admitted to the lower ends of the cylinders 51 and 58, the roll 23will be raised to the position shown in Figure 4, whereas when fluidpressure is admitted to the upper ends of the cylinders, the pistonswill be forced downwardly and the roll 23 moved toward the rolls 22 and24 into the position shown in Figures 3 and 5. In this lower position,the axis of the roll 23 substantially coincides with the axis ofrotation of the sub-frame.

The arrangement just described enables the end of the coil of strip tobe fed rapidly and easily into the guides 60 of the roller leveler 21,and also subjects the strip passing between the rolls to severe coldworking by bending the strip in opposite directions around the rolls 23and 24, thus putting the strip into proper condition for subsequentoperations and preventing damage to the structure of the strip by theuncoiling operation. The feeding of the end of the strip through thevarious rolls and into the roller leveler is ac complished as follows:

The coil C of strip S is loaded onto the cradle with the stabilizer bar16 inserted through the central opening of the coil and engaged in theguiding slots l1 and I8 of the upright frame members H and 12. The endor fishtail of the strip is bent outwardly therefrom into some suchposition as indicated at S in the drawing. Then the coil is rotated bymeans of the rolls I3, in a direction opposite to the direction ofrotation for withdrawing strip from the coil (clockwise in thearrangement shown in the drawing) so that the end of the strip isdisposed beneath the corner or angle Bl of the guide 20 as indicated atS.

The rolls 13 then are driven in the direction to withdraw the strip fromthe coil (counterclockwise from the arrangement shown in the drawing)thereby to feed the end of the strip between the guides 20 and 21 andbeneath the cluster roll 23 and above the cluster rolls 22 and 24 asshown in Figure 4 ofjthe drawings. Atthis time, the sub-frame isarranged as shown in Figure 4 of the drawings with the end members andcylinders 51 and 58 substantially vertical while the intermediat clusterroll 23 is raised to its uppermost position to provide a relativelylarge gap through which the end of the strip can be fed. During theinitial feeding operation, the end of the strip ordinarily is onlyslightly curved, and may be considered as substantially straight, forthere are no abrupt bends in the material. The strip is fed through thegap between the rolls by rotation of the cradle rolls l3 until the endof the strip strikes the adjustable stop 83 as shown in Figure 4. Thenthe rotation of the cradle :rolls I3 is stopped and actuating fluid issupplied to the upper ends of the cylinders 51 and 58 to force the roll23 downwardly toward the rolls 22 and 24, securely clamping the stripbetween the rolls and bending the strip as shown in Figure 5. Thebending action results in the end of the strip swinging upwardly intoengagement with the guide roll 26, the lower surface of the roll 26being disposed substantially .at the level of the pass line of theroller leveler 21.

After the strip has reached the position shown in Figure 5, fluid underpressure is admitted to the ends of the cylinders 52 and 53 remote fromthe racks 49 and 50, forcing the racks to the right in the arrangementshown in the drawings, and rocking the sub-frame carrying the rolls 22,23 and 24 in a counterclockwise direction in the embodiment shown intothe position shown in Figure 3. Rocking the cluster rolls to thisposition results in the bending of the strip upwardly around theintermediate roll 23 so that it takes a substantially verticaldirection, and then bending the strip in the reverse throughapproximately around the third roll 24 so that it takes a horizontalposition with the end of the strip lying substantially parallel to, butofiset from the portion of the strip leading from the coil to the biteof the rolls 22 and 23. In this position, the end is disposed beneaththe roll 25 and in alignment with the entering guides 60 of the leveler21. As the sub-frame is swung to the position in Figure 3, the roll 24engages and pinches the strip against the roll 25 and the gear 36 comesinto mesh with the gear 35. The rolls 24 and 25 thus act as pinch rolls.Then the operator has only to start th drive mechanism for the leveler,the rolls 24 and 25, and the rolls l3, thus causing the strip to beunwound from the coil, to pass between the cluster rolls which thenconstitute processing rolls, and finally to pass through the rollerleveler. From the leveler, the strip may go to a flying shear, or otherapparatus not pertinent to the present invention.

From the foregoing description of a preferred form' of my invention, itwill be evident that I have provided a mechanism wherebystripimaterialma'j be rapidly and efficiently uncoiled, processed andleveled. With my apparatus theoperator merely by manipulating thecontrols for the driving mechanism of the several units can readilyandrapidly enter the end of a coil .of strip through the processing rollsand into the roller leveler. The apparatus subjects the metal to severecold working shortly after it is withdrawn from thecoil and because ofthis working and because of the fact that the coil is steadied orstabilized on the cradle, damage to the metal as'i't is being withdrawnfrom the coil is substantially eliminated. My apparatus is simple andsturdy and can be manufactured at reasonable cost. While the apparatusis shown here as adapted for use with material in coil form, it will beevident that the processing rolls can be used with equal facility in theprocessing of sheets and in feeding sheets to a leveler or otherapparatus.

Various changes and modifications in my invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that mypatent is not limited to the preferred embodiment of my inventiondescribed in detail herein, but

that the foregoing detailed description is given by way of example andnot by way of limitation.

I claim:

1. A strip enterin and processing apparatus adapted to receive stripmaterial, subject it to cold working and guide it to a roller leveler,said apparatus comprising a main frame, a pinch roll mounted in saidmain frame, a sub-frame mounted for rocking movement with respect tosaid main frame, a plurality of rolls carried by said sub-frame, one ofsaid rolls being bodily movable with respect to the others, means formoving said movable roll from open position wherein a relatively largespace is provided to receive the end of a strip of material to closedposition wherein the strip is engaged by the rolls and bent part wayaround one of the rolls with the end of the strip engaging the guideroll, and means for rocking the sub-frame to bring one of the rollscarried thereby adjacent said pinch roll with the strip engagedtherebetween.

2. A strip entering and processing apparatus adapted to receive stripmaterial, subject it to cold working and guide it to a roller leveler,said apparatus comprising a main frame, a pinch roll and a guide rollmounted in said main frame, a sub-frame mounted for rocking movementwith respect to said main frame, a plurality of rolls carried by saidsub-frame, one of said rolls being bodily movable with respect to theothers, means for moving said movable roll from open position wherein arelatively large space is provided to receive the end of a strip ofmaterial 7 to closed position wherein the strip is engaged by the rollsand bent part way around one of the rolls with the end of the stripengaging the guide roll, means for rocking the sub-frame to bring one ofthe rolls carried thereby adjacent said pinch roll with the stripengaged therebetween, means for driving said pinch roll, and means fordriving the roll adjacent thereto from said pinch roll.

3. A strip entering and processing apparatus 6 adapted' to' receivestrip material, subject it to coldworking and guide it to a rollerleveler, said apparatus comprising a main frame, a pinch'roll and aguide roll mounted in said main frame, a sub-frame mountedfor rockingmovement with respect to said main frame, a plurality of'rolls carriedby said s-ub frame, one of said rolls being bodily movable with respectto the others,

there-being a'relatively large space between said rolls toreceivethe'end of a strip'of material when said roll is'in openposition, stop means errg'ageable by the end of a strip projectingthrough said rolls only when said roll is in'open position, means formoving said roll to closed position wherein the strip'is engaged by the'rolls and bent part way around one of the rolls with the endjof thestrip'engaging the guide roll and disengaged fromsaid' -stop means,means for rock ing the sub-frame to bring one of the rolls carriedthereby adjacent said pinch roll with the strip engaged therebetween,means for driving said pinch roll, and means for driving the rolladjacent thereto from said pinch roll.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the

combination of a cradle comprising a plurality of rolls adapted tosupport a coil of strip material, and a group of processing rolls, saidprocessing rolls being adapted to receive strip material from said coil,subject the material to cold working, and feed the material to a rollerleveler, said processing rolls including a cluster of three rolls, apinch roll and a guide roll, the intermediate roll of said cluster beingbodily movable with respect to the first and third roll to provide, inone position a relatively large space to receive the end of the stripand in another position to urge the strip against said first and thirdrolls thereby causing a strip positioned therebetween to be bent partway around said intermediate roll and causing the end of the strip toengage said guide roll, and means for rocking said cluster of rolls tobring said third roll closely adjacent said pinch roll thereby engagingthe strip between said third roll and said pinch roll, imparting areverse bend to the strip and guiding the end thereof to said rollerleveler.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a cradlecomprising a plurality of rolls adapted to support a coil of stripmaterial, and a group of processing rolls, said processing rolls beingadapted to receive strip material from said coil, subject the materialto cold working, and feed the material to a roller leveler, saidprocessing rolls including a cluster of three rolls, the intermediateroll of said cluster being bodily movable with respect to the first andthird rolls to provide, in one position, a relatively large space toreceive the end of the strip and in another position to urge the stripagainst said first and third rolls thereby causing a strip positionedtherebetween to be bent part way around said intermediate roll, andmeans for rocking said cluster of rolls to impart a reverse bend to thestrip.

6. A processing apparatus, a group of processing rolls comprising acluster of three rolls and a pinch roll, the intermediate roll of saidcluster being bodily movable with respect to the first and third rollsto provide, in one position, a relatively large space to receive the endof a sheet or strip and in another position to urge the sheet or stripagainst said first and third rolls thereby causing a sheet or stripmaterial positioned therebetween to be bent part way around saidintermediate roll, and means for rocking said cluster anerz we 7 rollsto bring said third roll closely adjacent said pinch .roll therebyengaging the sheet or strip between said third roll and said pinch rolland imparting a reverse bend thereto.

7. Processing apparatus for sheet or strip material comprising aplurality of rolls, means for supporting said rolls in an enteringposition wherein a space is provided to permit the end of a sheet orstrip to pass between and project beyond said rolls without requiringengagement between the material and the rolls or bending of thematerial, a stop engageable by the projecting end of the sheet or strip,and means for moving the rolls to disengage said end from said stop,engage said sheet or strip to impart a, reverse bend thereto and guidesaid end in a direction substantially parallel to but ofiset from thedirection of the strip or sheet entering said rolls.

LEONARD A. VIGNERE.

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